house

This week in TV clips was at times horrifying, but ended on a positive note. Last week's 'X Factor Flashing' gave way to the Nancy Grace nip slip. And then Andy Rooney retired, which inspired outpouring of mash-ups saluting his career in grumpy old man musings. Both Ed Helms and Seth Rogen got Jersey Turnpiked by the 'Jersey Shore.' But then Jaleel White came back into our TV lives and set everything back right in the world.

Check out some of our favorite clips from the week that was in TV and vote for your favorite in our weekly poll.

'How I Met Your Mother' (8PM ET, CBS)
Last week's hilarious episode was a return to form for the aging comedy, and we're hoping that tonight's offering can maintain that momentum. After Robin assaults a girl who is out to ruin Barney's relationship, she is forced to begin court-mandated therapy sessions. Meanwhile, Ted gets too involved in Lily's pregnancy. Featuring Kal Penn as Robin's therapist, in his first acting role since joining the Obama Administration -- you go, Kumar!

'House' (9PM ET, Fox) season premiere
After last season's controversial finale, we pick up one year later, with everyone's favorite Vicodin addict behind bars. When an antagonistic prison gang leader makes a serious threat, House solicits the help of a fellow inmate (guest star Jaleel White), but when another inmate's unusual medical symptoms spark his curiosity, House must come up with creative ways to treat the patient while navigating prison rules.

Jaleel White is the rare child star who's come through the other side of his early celebrity doing just fine. Although he endured some fallow years career-wise after his 'Family Matters' days, the artist formerly known as Steve Urkel never had a public-meltdown, stayed in shape and is about to kick-start the second act of his TV career with a role on 'House.'

White dropped by 'The Wendy Williams Show,' (weekdays, syndicated on Fox) where he assured Wendy that he's still getting paid well off 'Family Matters' residuals, told some old stories and previewed his 'House' character.

Sure there are plenty of big stars coming to TV this fall, but there are also some lesser-known names to look out for.

There's a talented and sassy bunny from 'The Playboy Club,' a British TV host we'll all be swooning over, a 'Charlie's Angels' vixen you'll love to see in action and a reality TV star-turned-dramatic leading man.

There are also a few new additions to returning shows we love, like the familiar face that's stopping by 'Glee' to romance Mercedes, and the sexy brunette who'll be pulling double-duty on Fox this fall with a turn on 'House.'

See all of our picks for freshest faces of Fall TV, and go ahead and commit their names and faces to memory, if you haven't already -- we guarantee this won't be the last you'll see of them.

Television is attracting more and more big-name stars, but this week's TV Guide Magazine points out that it's probably more of a fiscally sound decision for the actors than we realize.

While the most elite A-Listers make millions in movies, it's much less lucrative for everyone else. TV, on the other hand, offers a steady paycheck. Six-digit paydays add up when you take a 22- or 13-episode season into account.

It probably won't surprise you to know that Ashton Kutcher, who is filling Charlie Sheen's shoes on 'Two and a Half Men,' tops the comedy list with a salary of $700,000 per episode -- half a million dollars less than what Sheen was making. 'House' star Hugh Laurie makes the same $700,000 for every hourlong episode of the Fox medical drama.

The 'Glee' spinoff is not quite dead, but don't look for a decision on it any time soon.

That was the main news that came from the Fox executive session at the Television Critics Association press tour, which consisted of entertainment president Kevin Reilly fielding questions from the media for about 45 minutes.

Though Reilly said he didn't want to give the recent 'Glee' controversy any more exposure by talking about it, he was asked about it repeatedly. There were certainly many questions about how 'Glee' executive producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk handled the crisis. (A brief refresher: Murphy said in an interview that three actors were leaving the show, some of the actors said they found out about that via Twitter, then Falchuk and Murphy said no one was leaving the show but essentially blamed the media for everything that went wrong). But Reilly refused to critique the producers' handling of the story in recent weeks.

Hollywood is a magical place, but probably the most amazing thing about the entertainment industry is that any city can be faked.

Haven't you ever watched a show like 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' and wondered where in Philly Paddy's Pub is? Well, don't go searching, because in real life, it's on the Fox lot in Los Angeles, California.

And just a few doors down from the 'Sunny' set is 'How I Met Your Mother,' where the gang gets in trouble on the streets of New York City ... that are actually on a sound stage in L.A.

But there are shows where there's no way the magic of the city can be faked ... right? 'Mad Men' is so completely New York in the 1960s (shoots in L.A., in the present day) and the rainy Seattle backdrop of 'The Killing' had to be 100% authentic (actually it was Vancouver's raindrops you saw all season).

We thought we'd take a look at a few of the other best tricked cities on TV ...

We know Huddy fans don't want to think about it, but who could ever replace her? It's possible they could promote from within, but they probably don't want to ruin the team dynamic either. And if they bumped Wilson up to bossman status, that would certainly complicate his friendship with House even more.

So we've come up with a list of strong contenders ... all women, as it turns out, so I guess we like that sexual tension, too. I mean, someone's gonna have to be the soft feminine shoulder for House to cry on when his favorite sparring partner says goodbye, right?

Executive producer Greg Yaitanes said fans would be shocked by the last five minutes of this season finale of 'House' (Mon., 8PM ET on FOX) and he was right. If what we saw was real, it was certainly a stunning development in the lives of House, Cuddy and even Wilson, peripherally.

Now that we know Lisa Edelstein won't be returning to the series next week, we have to also look at this moment as her swan song, and it's certainly easy to understand why Cuddy would want to disappear.

In a moment of drug-addled jealousy, House drove a car through her living room -- while she was hosting a dinner party -- with no regard for the four people in the house, including Cuddy. And then he simply walked away with a little self-satisfied smile on his face.

Huddy fans, you better have a seat: Lisa Edelstein will not return to 'House' for the show's eighth (and probably final) season.

According to Deadline, Edelstein and costars Omar Epps and Robert Sean Leonard were not under contract for the eighth season. However, Epps and Leonard signed new deals and Edelstein was expected to ... until she decided not to.

"After much consideration, I am moving onward with a combination of disappointment at leaving behind a character I have loved playing for seven years and excitement of the new opportunities in acting and producing that lie ahead," Edelstein said in a statement.

As part of the new deal that was being negotiated, the actress had been asked to cut her per episode salary.

Last week we got the bombshell that Dr. House has been self-medicating with an experimental drug to try and regrow muscle tissue in his leg. Unfortunately, lab tests revealed that mice treated with the drug had developed tumors. This week, on 'House' (Mon., 8PM ET on FOX), we found out it wasn't just the mice.

An x-ray showed that while muscle had grown, so had three tumors in House's leg. And, being the calm and rational medical professional he is, House did what any sane and normal person would do. He decided to operate on his own leg ... in his bathtub.

It went about as well as expected, which means terribly. Luckily, he was able to get a hold of Cuddy to come in and save the day. So, this wasn't the big drama for the season finale. What do you think that will be?

In advance of this afternoons Upfront presentation in New York, Fox announced its fall 2011 TV schedule this morning. There aren't any big surprises, aside from the 'Bones' spinoff 'Finder' getting its debut at midseason instead of this fall as a contingency plan for Emily Deschanel's pregnancy like many predicted.

The long-delayed 'Terra Nova' finally gets its official debut this fall, with the Steven Spielberg-produced dinosaur show airing Monday nights at 8PM before 'House.' 'The X Factor' takes over 'American Idol''s time slot, and will help launch a new comedy on Wednesday nights.

Another interesting tidbit to note: 'America's Most Wanted' has been discontinued as a regular TV series; after 23 years Fox has decided to bring back the show in the form of occasional specials.